I purchased this 1986 XL250R several years ago. I've went on a few rides then parked it again.

I brought it our of the mothballs about a year ago and started getting it back in shape.

First thing I noticed was the clutch cable wasn't repeasing properly. I tried different forms of lubrication, but nothing worked.

So I had to replace the clutch cable. The fork covers had disintegrated, so I found aftermarket fork covers. Since I had to remove the forks to replace the covers, I disassembled the forks, replaced seals, cleaned them and replaced the fork oil. Since the front shocks got some attention, I pulled the rear shock, links and swingarm. The rear shock isn't serviceable, but everything looked good so I greased the links as I put it back together.

Then I replaced the handgrips for good measures.

A couple weekends ago I rode it up into Tenn. on a "small bore" group ride. Put about 200 miles on it then.

The engine bogs under hard acceleration, so I have carb kits ordered to rebuild both of the carbs.

Photos from the bike